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Eastern box turtle shell reconstruction
In early October, 1999, this turtle was brought in with major damage to the rear area of his shell. The damage was caused by a lawn mower cutting into him and shattering the bone of his shell. It took several days to remove all the debris (leaves, dirt, grit, grass) that was in the exposed area. The turtle retained feeling and limited movement in his rear legs though he chose to not use those limbs as much as possible due to the pain caused by movement. Sugar was placed under observation for signs of infection setting in while plans were made on how best to go about repairing the shell.
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The contents and layout of this page was updated and reformatted on June 14, 2001. |
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Say hello to Sugar, an Eastern
box turtle that I performed shell reconstruction on under the supervision
and assistance of my wonderful veterinarian. Sugar was under anesthesia during
the actual reconstruction process.
Photos here show the extent of
the damage. The skin membrane you see beneath the shell is his lung. Sugar
was very lucky that his lung was not ripped open when the bony shell shattered
and peeled away from the membrane. The picture to the right shows him exhaling.
The photo below shows him inhaling. Notice the decrease in the space between
the membrane and the shell.
With no infection having occured,
the broken, upraised coastal plate was wired back down into position. The
turtle was also fitted with an indwelling pharyngostomy tube. He was refusing
to eat willingly with winter coming on and the instinct to want to go into
hibernation, but at the same time he could not go without regular nutrition.
The turtle would continue to be observed for signs of infection.
Two weeks after wiring the coastal plate back into
position, work began on repairing the rest of the damaged shell. The coastal
plate was reinforced with a layer of autoclaved fiberglass fabric coated
with a 2 part epoxy resin and allowed to harden. Work then began on
lifting a group of "floater" shell pieces back into position before reinforcing
them into place with fiberglass and epoxy. While the exposed area in the
picture looks cruddy it is in fact a good sign as granulation is beginning
to set in on top of the healthy flesh.
A layer of fiberglass support has
been applied around the injured site with appropriate overhangs shaped over
the areas where floater pieces will be fitted back into place.
Two areas with floater pieces are
epoxied into place against the fiberglass overhang and temporairily held
in place with surgical hemostat clips.
It was observed that the initial
fiberglass shell held up well and the floater pieces remained firmly in place.
Two weeks later the remaining open area (the approx. 1" x 2" spot where the
shell was completely missing all pieces) was covered over with a layer of
fiberglass. A second layer of fiberglass went over the first layer for extra
support and coated liberaly with the epoxy resin.
In late March Sugar forcibly
removed the feeding tube twice from his neck and after the second incident
it was left out. Not long after that he began to willing eat on his own which
confirmed our initial thoughts that his earlier refusal to eat was from
hibernation instinct. Due to the very smooth and worn appearance of the shell
he is estimated to be around 60 years old if not actually older. Now that
repairs are complete, it is hoped that granulation will set in and rebond
all the broken areas as well as fill in the area where the shell is completely
missing. Estimated time frame for this process to occur is about 2 years.
At that time the fiberglass patching will be removed and an evaluation made
on his improvement or lack of.